Lakeville South beats Eagan 35-21 In Season Opener

is expected to have success through the air this season, but its running game may have been the difference in a 35-21 win over Eagan Friday.

Chris Moore ran for 117 of the Cougars’ 222 rushing yards an one score and Mitch Leidner was 11 of 20 passing for 183 yards.

In addition to Moore, Austin Britnell and Braden Kaufenberg found success running the football, each running for a score.

“All those guys hadn’t played before,” said coach Larry Thompson. “It was a big start for us to get that going. We know we can pass, and we can run.”

Tied at 14 entering the second half, Leidner found Devon Bzoskie for a 48-yard completion, and after three runs by Moore, Leidner had his own number called and snuck in from the 1-yard line.

Following two poor offensive series _ including a fumble by Bzoskie _ back-to-back runs by  Moore and Kaufenberg gained 35 yards to start a nine-play, time-consuming drive that culminated early in the fourth quarter with Britnell scoring from the 3-yard line.

“We felt pretty promising, especially running behind Mitch and our great offensive line,” Moore said. “They gave us a lot of looks. When we saw something was open we definitely blasted through it. Even when we don’t have the ball we were making good fakes so when the next round comes and we got the ball they don’t really know.”

The senior put the game away with less than 4 minutes to play, eluding about six tackles on a 35-yard run and scoring on the next play from the 3.

Early on, the first game jitters may have had an affect on the Cougars offense. They couldn’t put drives together, had balls go off the hands of receivers and fumbled once deep in their own end.

“We weren’t very sound and they were playing tough defense, too,” Thompson said.

“It was the first game, and it was like we were trying to get our heads around it,” Moore said. “But we always come together as a team, figure things out and see what we need to work on. In the second half we came out ready.”

The Lakeville South defense put good pressure on Eagan quarterback Drew Bauer all game.

“Our D-line just stood their blocks on the front line and were just being their best,” said linebacker Nevin Andreas. “He’s a fast quarterback who likes a two-step drop, pops and quick slants.”

“We just never really had a sense of urgency offensively,” said Eagan coach Rick Sutton. “We had quite a few guys that had that deer in the headlights look all night long. We put three scores on the board so there were flashes of good stuff, but just way too far and few between.”

The Cougars travel to Eastview at 7 p.m. Sept. 9 before hopefully returning to their home field Sept. 16 against Apple Valley. The Eagan game was played at Lakeville North because of an unplayable field at South.